The present invention relates to a flag buoy, and more particularly to an inflatable flag buoy having separated buoyant seat and flag body in the form of air chambers and a flashlight holder for holding a flashlight to lighten the flag body for good warning effect in both the daytime and the night.
Diving is one of the most popular water sports and generally includes snorkeling, skin diving, and scuba diving. To protect divers from being accidentally hurt under water by, for example, passing vessels and the like, a flag buoy is usually positioned on a water surface under which divers are working or moving around. The flag buoy has a flag showing a diagonally extended straight strip that has become an internationally recognized symbol indicating the presence of divers working under water around the flag buoy. Any vessel shall bypass a water area within 30 meters from the flag buoy. Therefore, the flag buoy is indeed very important to the safety of divers. However, most of the flag buoys are so simple in structure that they fail to provide complete warning effect, particularly when the flag buoys are used in the night.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional flag buoy 10 in the simplest form. The flag buoy 10 includes a waste tire and the like to serve as a buoyant seat 11, a pole 12 fitted on the tire 10, and a flag 13 printed with a diagonally extended straight strip and hung on the pole 12. The flag 13 is naturally drooping when it is windless. The waste tire 11 is heavy and bulky and cannot be conveniently carried. And, the whole flag buoy 10 is useless when it is used in the night.
FIG. 2 shows another conventional flag buoy 20 that includes a buoyant seat 21 similar to the buoyant seat 11 in the first conventional flag buoy 10, and two spaced poles 22 with a flag 23 stretched between them. The flag buoy 20 has the same disadvantages as that of the first flag buoy 10, namely, inconvenient for carrying and too simply to provide any other functions.
FIG. 3 shows a further conventional flag buoy 30 that includes an integral inflatable air chamber generally divided into a seat portion 31, a pole portion 32, and a flag portion 33. An advantage of the flag buoy 30 is it can be conveniently carried in a deflated state. However, the inflatable flag buoy 30 also provides only one single function as a flag buoy and is useless in the night. Moreover, any leak on any portion of the inflatable flag buoy 30 shall cause the whole flag buoy 30 to completely lose its function. The inflatable flag buoy 30 therefore has low reliability and safety for use. A further disadvantage of the flag buoy 30 is that the flag portion 33 is always located at one side of the pole portion 32 and therefore prevents the whole flag buoy 30 from standing upright in a balanced state. The bigger the flag portion 33 is, the more the whole flag buoy 30 would incline.
It is therefore desirable to develop a flag buoy that would eliminate the disadvantages existing in the various types of conventional flag buoys and provides more functions other than a flag buoy.